Sun & Moon
by Bara Shibenjin
Summary: They were like the sun and moon. And those two celestial entities could not touch : Brandon x Maria : Pre-Millenion : A bittersweet set of vignettes. On-hiatus for now.


My first little fic I'm adding here on ff. As stated in the summary, this is Brandon x Maria, the first of what I intend to be a trio of vignettes. It's not angst, though the third vignette/chapter will be sad. This first one however is cute, if not a bit of fluff, though not overdone fluff, mind you.

Without further ado, enjoy.

**The Sun**

"_He's no different than the rest of those gang members_."

Sometimes he said it without much of a reason to. Needless to say, it wasn't the first time she'd heard her uncle say something similar. The thing was, he would never say such things in her presence, out of respect for her and her feelings. All the same, she was not bothered by what her uncle said of the man, rather, she began to think about it as she made her way out of the house.

It was the evening. The sky was streaked with shades of orange, the color painting the city itself as she walked the streets, on her way to the store nearby. It was small but convenient, which was why she chose it. Most were somewhat wary of it, as it was close to _the line_. By all means, that line did exist but it was not marked in neon or paint. It was the part of the town that divided the respectable from everything else. If one only ventured just a little farther past that store, the line had been passed. All one had to do was have a glance down one of the alleys to be certain of it. Respectable streets and alleys were clean, freed of broken glass and the like, not as the ones here were. Sometimes one might even find casings. The shadows would prevent the pieces from shining so the way they were discovered was if one was tread upon or unknowingly kicked aside. In hitting something, they made such a crisp sound, not unlike the soft ringing of ornate bells.

So strange…so ironic of a sound to be heard in places like that…

She did not venture that far, just into the store, stepping from the streets through the glass doors that slid open when she had approached. She might have stayed to look for anything else possibly needed, but she had decided not to dally that day. It was getting dark and all she needed was salt anyhow. The common ingredient happened to be for something she planned to prepare the following day and here she was, strolling to a certain aisle for it. It wasn't necessary really but her uncle had insisted, which earned him a reminder about his cholesterol. To that, he went off with declarations specifying how he "was not an old man yet", so she had ended up leaving the house in the end.

As she approached the counter, the cashier glanced up at her with a courteous smile she returned easily. The person ahead of her in the line was apparently purchasing a great number of things but she did not mind waiting. Her mind returned to what she had recently begun to ponder as she had been leaving the house.

Maybe it looked that way.

Maybe it looked like he was an insignificant individual amidst the mass inhabiting the city. If he dressed like a regular businessman, the kind she would see in town sometimes, then perhaps people wouldn't suggest certain things of him. His friend dressed that way didn't he? That proved it was possible for him as well. Still, she didn't care very much for it. As they said, clothes don't make the person.

Of course, she didn't only see the well-to-do types in town, they were also in places she frequented. She knew some of them well and was acquainted with others. And, on occasion, she would sometimes take up their invitations to attend a play, a recital or something just as refined and elegant. That was all good and fine; she appreciated art in all its forms but those men, each one, became just another blank face in the back of her mind before the thoughts were gone altogether. It was all flattery to her, the shiny cars and expensive restaurants. What was the point when material possessions were not her hearts great desires?

She knew he was not a businessman and that he did not always remain in the right sort of company. But that was not something he could change so easily at this point in his life. That was a matter of history and circumstance. One couldn't always influence such things… Aside from that, she didn't want him to become one of the businessmen either.

He was what he wanted to be, not what she could plan to change him into.

In any case, she had no doubt. It couldn't matter less what his friends did, he was not like them. Brandon Heat was not an element in the scourge of society, as her uncle would have her believe. The man did his best to keep her sheltered from the negativity the world offered but living where she did, one learned things. She was not ignorant as to what happened in the city. Mostly, the goings-on occurred at night, thus being out when the streetlights were bright would not fail to invoke silent fear in her whenever she found herself in the situation. She was never at ease walking the streets in the dark unless Brandon walked her home.

It was the sort of day where everything seemed to go in slow motion and the pace hadn't differed even after the sun had set. The sun. To see through the tall glass window-fronts of the store and realize that light was finally extinguished caused her to consciously shift on her feet. It was almost silly, she thought, that she could worry so but there wasn't a thing she could do to remedy it herself. She made an effort to focus thought on getting home, getting away from the broken glass bottles, trash gathered in corners and dirt-ridden window panes, not what time it was or the quiet unease she felt. The latter evidently escaped the attention of the cashier who had quickly rung up the ingredient and was looking to the young woman expectantly. Of course, she politely apologized before paying and making to leave.

It was dark already and too quiet. The sounds of her own steps on the concrete seemed loud. Most had shut in for the night or were starting to, leaving streets emptied and dark. Bright, white light flickered over her fair form as she passed under streetlights but they were not so much comfort. Her mind was playing tricks, she knew, when a noise caught her sense of hearing somewhere behind her. She didn't stop, reasoning it was a stray cat and to double back to find that it really was one would only prove how silly she was being.

"Maria."

Now that was not the same sound. She could nearly believe she had heard her name being spoken. Her next step was hesitant but she moved along anyway, not trusting her hearing at the moment. After a few seconds of no additional noise, she began to relax when something finally brushed the back of her arm. Instantly startled given the circumstance, she gave a cry of surprise and quickly turned to see the cause of the contact. The entire act was quite the little contrast compared to how graceful Maria was known to be. She could see it easily in those deep goldenrod irises of his; he was amused even if the expression on his face was as casually stoic as he was known for. Simply put, that was Brandon Heat.

"Sorry." Was his quietly spoken word in response to her immediate reaction.

A smile slowly graced her delicate features and she laughed, at herself really. Finding out it was him seemed definite proof she had been quite silly indeed, in her reaction at least. Softened smile still decorating her face, the expression beginning to ascend to her eyes, she saw him smile in return, with just his eyes, visible to her even if a few stray strands of his black hair fell in attempt to obscure the gold color. Maria turned, pausing a moment before she began to walk again and he walked along with her. His mere presence dispelled the tense anxiety she felt not even a moment ago though he had said nothing to verbally assure her. In fact, he did not say anything else for some time after the single-word apology.

He was always so quiet.

She expected most would claim he was simply shy, which might have been true to an extent, but she did not think so necessarily, nor did she think that lack of talk confirmed unintelligence. She well knew much talk was what confirmed that. No, Brandon was smart, and if she had to reason his silence, she would say it was because he was choosing his words. He never spoke when he didn't deem it necessary to and it did not at all make being with him awkward. With him, she was entirely comfortable with silence. There was never a tense, weighted anxiety to keep talk going along with conversation, because, to begin with, Brandon wasn't exactly silent. In fact, Maria found that he had a good deal to say, he simply did not always use words and she thought him smarter for it.

Brandon spoke in other ways rather than with mere words. He spoke with his eyes and, every so often, little touches. In all that, he would say nothing but, all the same, she could hear everything he said. Always, it was his eyes. Though his expression did not change so much, his eyes would.

Wordless.

They would say what was on his mind, what he wanted her to know at the time. It was such a contrast from his best friend. She wondered how they became friends with such differences… Harry was too reckless and Brandon could not be called so. And no matter what he would manage to get himself involved in, she knew he would never truly be one of them, one of the 'gang members' as her uncle said.

That was not what Brandon Heat was like, she knew. And that was not at all what she'd compare him to, rather, if asked, she would say Brandon was the sun. Like it, he never said a word but his influence was like its light. When he did, in fact, have something to say, it was always heard; one would always note the difference when clouds passed before the sun.

He was also just as fiery.

Rarely did he anger in her presence and she had seen the emotion inspired in him only once. Some time ago, she had come to visit him. Harry's agitated voice was loud enough that her entrance passed as silent as she walked in on what seemed to be an argument. The speaking one of the two friends had gone on and Maria had seen it, Brandon's silent response that was, an intensity behind the goldenrod hued eyes she knew to be calm. Though he said not a word, it was clear he was angry but he said nothing. She knew he wasn't about to hurt his best friend but all the same, whatever they were talking about, Brandon had severely disagreed.

His eyes.

He was not about to back down.

Heat.

His last name fit him…

Needless to say, it was gone instantly when he took notice of her being there.

But despite it all, he was the sun eclipsed… She couldn't place a finger on it but the light he was did not reach as far as it should. She felt that she was the only one that was able to see it…

Maria's faith in him never wavered. One day, that dark inhibition would be gone and his full color would show; everyone else would be able to see him for all she had already known he was. How strange what the sun's inhibition was in reality…

It was nearly dark enough for the stars' light to be seen as they came to a stop at her door. The lights were on inside and the faint sounds of television could be heard through the open window. Strips of artificial light shone between the drawn blinds, they were closed of course or her uncle certainly would have come to the door to ensure the supposed boy from the wrong side of town didn't dally. He might not be there but Maria still knew better than to invite Brandon in that day.

"Thank you for walking me home tonight." She said, her kind smile reappearing on her face.

"…You're welcome." Brandon bothered to reply with words this time, which solidified Maria's smile.

Letting her gaze linger on him just a moment more, she finally turned, placing her freed hand on the door, as the other still held the plastic bag from the store. Easily, she could have just gone on inside, it was what they both knew she intended anyhow but she did not.

Pausing, she turned back to the one still standing there and, without anything to indicate so, Maria leaned forward and stood up on her toes slightly in order to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. Stepping back, she began to smile at him once again, the expression growing less soft and more conveying she was purely content with him, content with how he smiled at her in return. Like him, it was not grandly emotional but subtly expressive. And anything the hint of the expression did not contain lay in his eyes as always.

"Goodnight, Brandon." She said softly and watched as he wordlessly answered her with the same. Then, she turned, finally leaving him outside to enter her house for the night. Thoughts were on her mind. Thoughts of how she was right: Brandon Heat was the sun.

. . : End Part 1 : . .

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As stated before, reviews and/or criticism is much appreciated, especially since I would like to know if I managed to capture any little essence of the anime here. Yes, I know it's more metaphoric but I couldn't help it :3

- Bara


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